Posts tagged Meditation

We now enter into a time period referred to as ‘Zman Cheruteinu’ / ‘ The Time of Our Freedom’…..

What is this freedom all about?

I bring you a few of my personal explorations from years gone by, centered around the theme, ‘Freedom’….I beg your indulgence…it’s sort of a hodge podge collection…..Following a summary of a teaching on the topic by the Slonim Rebbe from his work, ‘Netivot Shalom’ and another Freedom Recipe selection from an old booklet of mine called Parsha Tools, I bring something different —– a selection called ‘Regarding Freedom’, which is a shooting from the hip, spontaneous , politically incorrect stream of thought expression of what I understand is the uniquely Jewish attitude to what freedom is—namely a type of freedom based on slavery…..

FREEDOM

(3 SELECTIONS]

1.Pesach ESSAY SUMMARY

From the sefer ‘NETIVOT SHALOM’

‘Zman Cherutenu’ / ‘Time of our freedom’
A
1.The name "the time of our freedom" given to Pesach by the men of the great
assembly when they coined (nusach) the holiday prayers points out the
essence of the holiday.
2. It is clear that the concept of the time of our freedom is not coming to
teach us what happened once upon a time in history alone but rather it is
also teaching us what is happening to us at this time of year now. Similarly
the terms "the time of our happiness" (Succos) and "the time of our
receiving of the torah" (Shavuos) point to what is also happening at that
time of year.
3. Both then and now there exists both physical and spiritual bondage which
we are released from to eternal freedom.
It is taught that 30 days before Pesach Hashem releases the souls that fell
into the sitra achra and redeems them into the realm of the Kedusha.
4. As long as a man is not free he is not able to receive the torah
therefore the first of the year's series of holidays is the freedom holyday
of Pesach which only afterward is followed by Shavuos the time of our
receiving of Torah.
B
1.Questions; What is so outstanding about what is written in the
Haggada that if Hashem didn't take us out of Egypt we and our children would
still be subjugated to Paro in Egypt, anyway we are subjugated to other
nations such as Edom to this very day ?
What's the meaning of the statement that if Hashem wouldn't have taken us
out of Egypt we would still be subjugated etc... Surely we see that H'
promised to Avraham Avinu that He would take us out?
Why is the word meshuabad i.e. subjugated stressed so much?
2. The meaning of the concept meshuabad (subjugated) is that the Jewish
people were totally subjugated with no independence even in their thinking
process. Therefore Egypt was called the house of Slavery the place where
people turned into slaves. This is illustrated by the midrash giving the
following analogy just as a fetus in its mother's stomach has no
independence or influence so too the Jewish people in Egypt.
This is the difference between the other exiles and the Egyptian exile; in
all other exiles the subjugating power were stronger than us and would
oppress us. In the Egyptian exile the Egyptians so totally subjugated us
that we weren't even able to know what to think and how to think.
3. For most of the 210 years exile the Jews were so totally subjugated that
we couldn't even scream in painful protest. The beginning of the redemption
process was ushered in by our ability to wordlessly scream.
4. The Jews were sunk in 49 gates of Tumah. This is not because the
Egyptians forced us to do as they do or to violate our religion but rather
this state of affairs bespeaks the very reality of being subjugated totally
to the lowliest society on earth.
5. "Hashem saw the pressure that the Egyptians were pressurizing them" means
that they had no control over their thought process nor over their speech
rather all their essence was subjugated.
6. Moshe Rabbenu's soul was a composite soul of the entire Jewish people he
reflected their state. Just as they were unable to express themselves with
proper speech so too was he afflicted in his speech. When the Jewish people
went out of Egypt and their mouths were opened up to speak properly so too
Moshe Rabbenu from then on was able to speak properly. Therefore one of the
main ideas of the Passover redemption is expressed in the Hebrew word
‘Pesach’ the mouth speaks.
C
1.The Jewish people were all subjugated in the Egyptian exile on many
levels. Even the tribe of Levy who weren't slaves physically nevertheless
were subjugated emotionally.
2. The question is why does our sages stress that if Hashem Himself and not
an angel didn't take us out of Egypt we would still be enslaved until this
very day.
Based on the fact that we were so subjugated that even our nefesh, ruach and
neshama were enslaved therefore anything short of total Divine redemption
would leave us enslave on fine subtle soul levels until this very day.
3. The tefilin of the hand is the antithesis of our lusting heart being
subjugated to the Egyptians. Instead of subjugating our hearts to Egypt we
subjugate it to Hashem. So too the head tefilin redirects the subjugation of
our thoughts from Egyptian thinking to G-dly thinking. This is the meaning
of Hashem himself and not an angel or a messenger taking us out of Egypt
i.e. we are now able to redirect our subjugation to Him. This is also the
meaning of the idea of being redeemed with "a strong hand" i.e. the power
to cut off our subjugation to them and to redirect it to Hashem.
D
1. The holiday of our freedom applies to every individual in every
generation. Generally speaking what distinguishes a Jew is that his essence
is subjugated to Hashem even though his evil inclination trips him up
sometimes. However sometimes a person can become totally subjugated in
certain areas and he will stumble continuously. Examples of this are as
follows.
a. In the area of character traits
b. Foreign non-Jewish thought outlooks
c. Environmental subjugation
d. Domestic subjugation
All of these are types of subjugation to Paro in Egypt.
2. King David prayed to be freed from this kind of subjugation (psalm 142).
The segula of Pesach is for the individual to be freed from these various
subjugations.
E
1. Hashem engineered the geula by blinding the forces of evil with a very
intense light that shone in all of its intensity at once. The reason Hashem
did this was to prevent the Egyptian forces of evil from having any grasp
especially being that the Jews were sunk in 49 gates of tuma. Therefore a
gradually increasing divine light or influx would not have been enough. The
same phenomenon occurs every Shabbos.
2. This is also the means for a hard working individual who cannot overcome
his personal subjugations with small gradual steps and resolutions instead
he should strike out and make giant steps and giant resolutions.
3.This also explains why Pesach is a preparation for the Shavuos holiday of
receiving the Torah. Until a person jumps beyond himself and frees himself
from his personal enslavement with giant resolutions he will not be in
control of himself enough to receive the ultimate resolution of Torah.
Therefore Pesach leaves an impression of liberating himself with major
resolutions enabling him to receive the Torah 50 days later.
F
1.The reason why all holidays and shabbatot recall the coming out of Egypt
is because the purpose of all the holidays is to free oneself from the
yetser hara which is called mitsraim.
2. The period of time from Pesach until Shavuos is one long single holiday.
Everyday is a new unit of freedom until finally on Shavuos there is total
freedom. Our sages say the only truly free person is one who is involved in
Torah learning for he is the one who nullify himself i.e. all that
gets-in-the-way of his total freedom. The Zohar brings the one who eats the
bread of health (matza) on Pesach and receives the health of Torah on
Shavuos is exempt from being judged on Rosh Hashanah.
3. Sometimes it happens that a Jew can achieve high spiritual levels and yet
be subjugated to the tuma levels that characterize Egypt. The way to release
oneself from that situation is hinted at in the midrashs mentioning of the
blood of Pesach and the blood of brith mila. These blood purifications
represent respectively Emuna and Kedusha. These two elements internalized by
a Jew who is working on himself concertedly can free him.
4. The days of sfiras haOmer are compared to a long Chol Hamoed of Pesach in
that one achieves freedom totally. This happens through one's uprooting of
his tuma and of his purifying and sanctifying himself.

2. (Parsha Tools # 25) ‘THE-PESACH-GET-YOURSELF-FREE-FORMULA’

‘…AS IF I LEFT EGYPT…’

1. ‘…And please give us, Hashem…this Holiday of Matzohs…the time of our freedom’ [ Holiday Siddur]. Every Holiday in the Jewish calendar has a central theme. The last of the prophets who made up the ‘Men of the Great Assembly’, put together a good part of the ritual service we have in our daily and Holiday prayers. We’re informed by the words of the main-theme prayer that the essence of Pesach is that it’s ‘the time of our freedom’ [just as Shavuot is ‘the time of the giving of our Torah’ and Sukkot is the ‘time of our happiness’]. If I properly use this auspicious time, I can inoculate myself with my annual dose of freedom. Freedom’s in the air…it’s there for the taking. But how do I access it? Well, perhaps a direct way, is to make a list of all areas, major and minor, of my life in which I feel myself to be a slave. Next, I’d project into the future–Pesach, one year from now–and see myself as a gloriously free person, liberated from all of my personal slavery. I’d project how I achieved such a lofty goal and then I’d come back to the present and start to go for it! Not a bad plan, if you don’t mind me saying so…but I’d like to add a very important dimension; Our Passover Haggada brings a quote from our sages, that says that every person should see themself as if they personally left Egypt. We can understand from this that the key to understanding how to break out of our personal Egyptian slavery, is to learn how our ancestors did it–get the formula, and apply it in our lives.

THE 5-STEPS OF THE EGYPTIAN EXODUS

2. Let’s present a very brief survey of the elements that make up the Egyptian Redemption;

a. ‘SHIABUD’ [TOTAL AND ABSOLUTE ENSLAVEMENT OF BODY AND SOUL]— Our Sages brought an analogy comparing this initial phase in Egypt to that of a fetus of a calf in it’s mother’s womb. Like the fetus, our ancestors were so enveloped in the Egyptian experience that it didn’t even occur to them to groan and cry out to Hashem for the first 209 years out of their 210 year exile! But alas they did finally become conscious that they were enslaved in a terrible exile.

b. GROANS AND SCREAMS —Their awareness of their predicament brought out from a deep gut level, wordless groans and screams. Hashem heard them and actively initiated the redemption process.

c. THE OVERPOWERING DIVINE LIGHT—When the time came to leave Egypt, G-d caused to shine an incredibly powerful providential light into the atmosphere of Egypt and inside of these slaves’ consciousness. On the strength of that light, an entire nation LEAPED out of Egypt. They did so suddenly, not even waiting for their dough to rise and transform their Matzohs into Bread for the long journey. This stage is compared in a certain Chassidic work by R. Yitzchak Issack of Homil, to a young student who is dazzled and swept off his feet by the brilliance of his new righteous and amazing teacher. He has awe and behaves with total self-nullification towards his new spiritual master. The student however doesn’t yet have the ability to understand or internalize the teachings. He just says to himself,’ Wow’, and remains respectfully silent. Nevertheless, an impression is etched deep in his soul.

d. LOSING THE ‘LIGHT’ AND RECOVERING IT INCREMENTALLY—This slave nation, the children of Israel, managed, with this incredible G-d given light power and purity, to temporarily transcend their spiritual sickness of being steeped in all 49 gates of Teuma [impurity], long enough to escape out of Egypt. But as fast as they gained their instant light power, they lost it. But the impression it left deep in their souls would serve as a guiding light at the end of the tunnel constantly drawing them to recover it. In order for them to truly recover and internalize this power of soul-based and Faith-based expanded G-d consciousness, they needed to get it back slowly, deliberately and 1 step at a time. The root-causes of their exile…ie… their spiritual perfection process, now had to be examined and rectified. This Tikun process is what we do annually for the 50 days between Pesach and Shavuot. This is the counting and internalizing of the Holy Sefirot of the ‘Omer’ period. This stage is compared to our young student who matures to the point of not being just satisfied with sitting in his master’s presence in quiet awe. Rather, he seeks to understand the source of the wisdom that his teacher possesses. He engages his teacher in constant discussion, and is bold enough even to argue with him until he can figure it all out for himself!!

e. ‘SINAI’, LIVING IN THE LIGHT— The culminating historical element in the Egyptian redemption process happens with the nation’s receiving of the Torah at Sinai. The pure-G-dly-soulful-expanded-consciousness level is now fully and eternally acquired. This stage is compared to our student’s reaching a level, where he’s no longer in need of his teacher’s wisdom. He gets it on his own straight from Hashem. He sees the wisdom in every aspect of reality. He is no longer the student. He is now the master!

‘THE GET-YOURSELF-FREE-FORMULA’

3. Now we’re ready for our Parsha Tool…for our freedom formula:

a. Be aware of your personal Egypts–large and small. Let your mind recall all your revealed and repressed enslavements…mark them down. You’ll probably be amazed how much there is repressed inside of yourself….

b. Now begin to process them—First groan about them and then wordlessly scream with wild and emotional abandon..[if you’re in an embarrassing environment, then either take your chances and go for it, wait till your alone or do it right there, but in a silent way]…Try to get to the point of helplessness, where you truly open your heart to Hashem and beseech Him for help….

c. How do we access the overpowering instantly liberating Divine Light which is beyond our present capacities? We gave the answer at the beginning of this essay—-project a whole ‘new you’ one year from now on Pesach 5767 [2007]. You’ll be a person who enjoyed the most free and liberated year of your life. Make note of exactly how you achieved this glorious goal. Don’t forget the aspect of soul, faith, G-dliness and expanded consciousness…otherwise you never will truly escape from your inner slavery….

d. Now just go with the projected plan that you set up for yourself one step at a time….

3. Regarding freedom

at the risk of being a bit impetuous and politically incorrect , i nevertheless send to you, a group comprising a few of my favorite friends and students and teachers [ i welcome all feedback]–a few of my latest exploratory discoveries and thoughts [mostly accessed last night in the Mikve];

1. though i consider myself to be all about freedom in the conventional sense of the word [like lower soul stuff and be here now and paradise-ing and living the life i love…etc..etc.., upon looking deeper at the type of freedom that is being taught to us by the pesach mindset–i have come up with a very different paradigm—namely ‘SLAVERY FREEDOM’

2. We were being trained as a nation of slaves of man, prior to our inception or birth as a people, to be a nation of slaves or servants of Hashem for the rest of our history–ie…learning about ‘SLAVERY FREEDOM’

3. why were we as a nation stuck for 210 years in egypt to begin with?—i think it was to grab this new kind of freedom called ‘SLAVERY FREEDOM’

4. Steven Stills [of Crosby Stills nash and young fame ] wrote—‘find the cost of freedom buried in the ground…’—whether steven knew it or not–i think that he was coming on to this thing called ‘SLAVERY FREEDOM’

5. Kabbalah teaches that freedom is represented by the sefirah of Bina…Bina also represents the Sefira of Happiness and Neshama’s source and Music and Torahand the essential experience of Bina is to be the vessilizer or encapsulater or packager of Chochma— of free flowing shefa —ie…the Sefira that restricts or ENSLAVES itself in order to allow unbridled Freedom to be expressed —and thereby elicit Torah and happiness and neshama and music …….ie…’SLAVERY FREEDOM’

6. ‘normal’ type of freedom usually , in my experience, usually comes with a price—ie—just to say ‘I’M FREE’—usually what happens soon afterwards , is that i get slam-dunked by some type of burden or darkness or calling—calling me out to somewhat enslave myself in order to be free as a result—the irony of ‘SLAVERY FREEDOM’

7. alot of the time, what i find is that what people seem to seek out in terms of freedom is bordering on addictive behaviour—ie…’give me my fix of love or alcohol or drugs or unburdenedness–and i’ll be free—but without that i can’t’—instead of surrendering or transcending or subjecting a certain part of themselves [ourselves] –through self imposed slavery of sorts—in order to avoid the addiction—another example of ‘SLAVERY FREEDOM’

8. though some people [i’m thinking specifically of very frum/orthodox/observantpeople] are certainly engulfed in all kinds of seeming self imposed service and burdens in order to access ‘SLAVERY FREEDOM’ —nevertheless, i believe that as long as what they do, they do in a shallow, external, habitual way–then they remain enslaved and not free—-UNLESS—they seek to somewhat truly enslave themselves [from their present perspective]–in order top get to their freedom —ie…true ‘SLAVERY FREEDOM’

9. the Torah teaches –that the one who is truly free, is the one who is engaged and deeply occupied with Torah learning….Torah is all about boundaries—spiritual and actual—in order to achieve fusion with Hashem and His Will —ie…’SLAVERY FREEDOM’

10. In my own experience, if I take the time and effort [ie..minimal enslavement] at the start of a new day to plan out my whole day with anh inspired ‘to do’ list, than my day is one of paradise and freedom–a different type of ‘SLAVERY FREEDOM’

11. The Saba of Nevordik would be at his best and happiest when he was faced with the most difficult of challenges to overcome and thereby grow—‘SLAVERY FREEDOM’

12. the Slonim Rebbe –author of ‘Netivot Shalom’ teaches [in the name of his great grandfather–i think], that the key to be in a constant state of supreme Pleasure in life, is to be detached from pleasure —totally ….ie…enslave yourself to acieving the detachment and thereby achieve ‘SLAVERY FREEDOM’

13. The Tosh Rebbe [Shlit’a] teaches throughout his 2 volume work, entitled avodat Avoda—that the key to true spirituality is to restrict or enslave what you surround yourself with—-your desires and senses and your thoughts and feelings and actions—avoiding the material, physical…etc….and thereby open up the true uncluttered, unlimited spiritual access—another example of ‘SLAVERY FREEDOM’

14. alot of other Chassidic and non-Chassidic [including Chabad teachings] teach that the way to break free is to break away from ME , —ie….do what it takes [go thru the slavery that it takes to minimize ME and then let in Hashem…..another form of‘SLAVERY FREEDOM’

15. A good friend gave me a wonderful recipe for achieving peace between myself and my wife [and for anyone else as well]years ago at a particularly hard time—he told me to convey to her that i was willing to do anything and everything for her [ie..totally enslaving myself to her burden] —-and really mean it…. a very powerfulexample of ‘SLAVERY FREEDOM’

16. The Omer period is a period that is characterized by an access of 49 or 50 units of freedom [the going out of Egypt is mentioned 50 times in the Torah , and we went out of Egypt ‘CHAMUSHIM’ -ie…in a 50 unit] —the natural bridge from Pesach’s freedom access to Shavuot’s Torah access [on Shavuot we become free Torah learners]—-we do this with hard work on ourselves [slavery]—another example of ‘SLAVERY FREEDOM’

17. The Omer period is a period characterized by a rectification and refinement of our Midos or character traits—ie– to be humble to be nothings[slaves] to be totally open and respectful of others and of Hashem——and thereby free up those nasty traits that get in my way….’SLAVERY FREEDOM’

18. The Omer period is a period that is also characterized by a rectification and refinement based on the counting of the Sefirot —ie…an injection of total self expression–and i work on enslaving myself to rid myself of all thatb gets in my way of accessing this total self expression–ie…’SLAVERY FREEDOM’

19. i believe that this idea of utilizing slavery in order to get freedom is real–but is subjected to a person’s being READY for it—and if you need non-slavery freedom access–then that’s what you are ready for—therefore one needs to gauge your readiness to jump into ‘SLAVERY FREEDOM’

20. i also believe that some types of slavery-freedom-ing —may appear to be the exact opposite—such as the strategy of equinamity [it’s all then same to me] in order to achieve freedom or bitachon [i need no effort –cuz i trust that Hashem will make it happen]—but if you look deep, you’ll see that to achieve these transcendent states ,you need a powerful degree of self boundarizing and ‘SLAVERY FREEDOM’

A SLAVERY FREEDOM RECIPE

A. choose 1 area of life /act/ feeling/thought…etc…B. identify the slavery aspect of this factor—ie…in what way are you truly enslavedc. draw down from ABOVE, the type of personal subjugation or slavery that you need in order to free yourself up d. do ite. project yourself/co-create yourself as a free personf. do this same exercise with as many personal enslavements as possible

g. pray for it

May we be blessed to be truly free in the deepest , most essential sense of the word,

We brought approaches for measuring truth and for coping with deception……

Our weekly meditation session in Jerusalem focused on how to ‘shortcut’ our way to get to our deepest inner truths [‘Emet L’Amito’]……..

This led us to a discussion of one of my favorite and most powerful personal truth indicators—‘ALLNESS’………

I tried to illustrate the Allness principle— ‘To the extent that one taps into Allness, to that extent, one is in sync. with one’s calling, one’s environment and G-d’s plan for one’s life’—in short, one’s DEEPEST TRUTH……..

The next step in our search for truth therefore is to understand how to live in ‘Allness’………

So come with me dear friend, and and let’s meditatively explore———-

ALLNESS;

1. How to SEE it everywhere and always…..

2. How to MOTIVATE yourself towards it

3. How to BECOME it

4. How to be so full of Allness inside yourself that THE WORLD OUTSIDE OF YOU BECOMES FULL OF ALLNESS

ALLNESS SEEING

See Allness…………….Broaden your perspective of G-d’s Providence—-Begin to see things as G-d sees them, with multiple causes and multiple effects—-where all details of life fit into one grand unified scheme—–where everything is significant and complimentary and interconnected and inter included—-where the past and future all come together in the present—-where everything in your life and in the world is carefully guided—-where nothing limits or obstructs anything else [even that which seems to be divisive , full of conflict and full of darkness , are actually essential building blocks of Allness]—–where everything is in a constant state of becoming—becoming better, broader and more full of allness—-where everything is new and now and unique and possible and limitless and all fits into the unity and allness of it all

ALLNESS BECOMING

Become Allness…………..Awaken the allness of your being……Awaken fully the 24\7 Divine based consciousness of being fused with G-d—of having an empowered will/Ratzon—of being connected to an infinite flow of wisdom—–of being fully connected to your emotions—of being fully connected to your faculties of communication and decisive action…..Awaken fully your higher Soul as well as the child within you…..experience fully all levels of consciousness and awareness—-awareness of your body, awareness of your resources, awareness of your Soul, awareness of the past , present and future, awareness of clear and obvious inner drives, as well as those which are more subtle and hidden—–awareness of yourself as well as the people of your life and your respective influences on each other——awareness of your strengths and weaknesses and lackings —–awarenesses of the main purposes that you are here for in this life—-what you’ve come to fix up in your self and in others—what you’re driven to become and to accomplish…..Be open to be in your allness at all times and in all ways….BE ALLNESS

ALLNESS MOTIVATING

Use Allness as your core motivation…………….. See how the main measuring rod of the quality of your life, is the extent that you are fully self actualized and self expressed and in your allness…..notice how you scream yes and you jump out of bed in the morning when you are to engage in an activity that will allow you to be in your allness…..Notice how one of the most important factors of many decisions that you make, is how full of allness you will be in a certain direction that you are trying to decide upon……Notice how being in allness, is being connected to the core of your being—-and how that core-state naturally drives all of the rest of your personality functions—such as your beliefs, pleasures, will, wisdom, creativity, speech, emotions and actions…..experience how your feelings of allness actually op0en up an inner drive to connect to deeper and deeper allness levels…

ALLNESS MANIFESTING

Manifest Allness……………..See how the allness inside of yourself manifests allness outside of yourself…..see how the more that you fill yourself up with allness, the more that you attract allness people into your life….see how the more that you open up your eyes to see G-d’s Allness, the more G-d reveals to you with the passage of time…….see that the more that you focus on awakening your own allness, the more allness levels are opened up to you to become and to accomplish…..see how the more that you open yourself to allness, and the more that you decide decisions because of their allness value, the more that people, situations, Divine Providence and possible opportunities are presented to you, filling your life up with allness…….notice how all of the powers of the persona inside of you, have correspondences in the world outside of yourself, and the deeper that you activate the former, the more miraculously and powerfully do the latter manifest…..see how the more effort that you put into becoming a beacon of allness, the less effort you need to put into manifesting miracles in your life…..

blessings of Allness,

yitzchak

Last week we began to explore the essence of TRUTH…..

We brought approaches for measuring truth and for coping with deception……

Our weekly meditation session in Jerusalem focused on how to ‘shortcut’ our way to get to our deepest inner truths [‘Emet L’Amito’]……..

This led us to a discussion of one of my favorite and most powerful personal truth indicators—‘ALLNESS’………

I tried to illustrate the Allness principle— ‘To the extent that one taps into Allness, to that extent, one is in sync. with one’s calling, one’s environment and G-d’s plan for one’s life’—in short, one’s DEEPEST TRUTH……..

The next step in our search for truth therefore is to understand how to live in ‘Allness’………

So come with me dear friend, and and let’s meditatively explore———-
ALLNESS;
1. How to SEE it everywhere and always…..
2. How to MOTIVATE yourself towards it
3. How to BECOME it
4. How to be so full of Allness inside yourself that THE WORLD OUTSIDE OF YOU BECOMES FULL OF ALLNESS

ALLNESS SEEING
See Allness…………….Broaden your perspective of G-d’s Providence—-Begin to see things as G-d sees them, with multiple causes and multiple effects—-where all details of life fit into one grand unified scheme—–where everything is significant and complimentary and interconnected and inter included—-where the past and future all come together in the present—-where everything in your life and in the world is carefully guided—-where nothing limits or obstructs anything else [even that which seems to be divisive , full of conflict and full of darkness , are actually essential building blocks of Allness]—–where everything is in a constant state of becoming—becoming better, broader and more full of allness—-where everything is new and now and unique and possible and limitless and all fits into the unity and allness of it all

ALLNESS BECOMING
Become Allness…………..Awaken the allness of your being……Awaken fully the 24\7 Divine based consciousness of being fused with G-d—of having an empowered will/Ratzon—of being connected to an infinite flow of wisdom—–of being fully connected to your emotions—of being fully connected to your faculties of communication and decisive action…..Awaken fully your higher Soul as well as the child within you…..experience fully all levels of consciousness and awareness—-awareness of your body, awareness of your resources, awareness of your Soul, awareness of the past , present and future, awareness of clear and obvious inner drives, as well as those which are more subtle and hidden—–awareness of yourself as well as the people of your life and your respective influences on each other——awareness of your strengths and weaknesses and lackings —–awarenesses of the main purposes that you are here for in this life—-what you’ve come to fix up in your self and in others—what you’re driven to become and to accomplish…..Be open to be in your allness at all times and in all ways….BE ALLNESS

ALLNESS MOTIVATING
Use Allness as your core motivation…………….. See how the main measuring rod of the quality of your life, is the extent that you are fully self actualized and self expressed and in your allness…..notice how you scream yes and you jump out of bed in the morning when you are to engage in an activity that will allow you to be in your allness…..Notice how one of the most important factors of many decisions that you make, is how full of allness you will be in a certain direction that you are trying to decide upon……Notice how being in allness, is being connected to the core of your being—-and how that core-state naturally drives all of the rest of your personality functions—such as your beliefs, pleasures, will, wisdom, creativity, speech, emotions and actions…..experience how your feelings of allness actually op0en up an inner drive to connect to deeper and deeper allness levels…

ALLNESS MANIFESTING
Manifest Allness……………..See how the allness inside of yourself manifests allness outside of yourself…..see how the more that you fill yourself up with allness, the more that you attract allness people into your life….see how the more that you open up your eyes to see G-d’s Allness, the more G-d reveals to you with the passage of time…….see that the more that you focus on awakening your own allness, the more allness levels are opened up to you to become and to accomplish…..see how the more that you open yourself to allness, and the more that you decide decisions because of their allness value, the more that people, situations, Divine Providence and possible opportunities are presented to you, filling your life up with allness…….notice how all of the powers of the persona inside of you, have correspondences in the world outside of yourself, and the deeper that you activate the former, the more miraculously and powerfully do the latter manifest…..see how the more effort that you put into becoming a beacon of allness, the less effort you need to put into manifesting miracles in your life…..

And now I’m back, recovering and wondering where have I been and how that influences where am I going to, and one of the first specific explorations that this has led me to is—– the exploration of truth….after all , I tried in my many encounters with people on my trip, to somehow represent and convey a deeper truth to them….but now that I’m back home, and spending most all of my time alone, I’m no longer ‘on stage’, but rather, inside of the classroom of life, and therefore , as a full time learner, I’m moved to explore both what I already know [because unless we make an effort to know what we know, it most likely remains unknown to us ] as well as what I don’t yet know….so here is my latest exploration/presentation which I’ll call [first I’ll bring ‘what I know’—ie…TRUTH TEACHINGS that I have already brought in the past, and afterwards [this week or next] some new stuff-‘what I don’t yet Know’;

IN SEARCH OF TRUTH

TRUTH MEASURING APPROACHES

******Use these approaches as gauges to check the truth value of any principle, decision or piece of wisdom that you encounter.

A. TRUTH STANDS THE TEST OF TIME.

This verse in Proverbs states “The expression of truth stands forever.” Our Sages teach, “Falsehood has legs to stand on”, i.e. staying power. Does it stand up to the test of time? Though you can’t know this ingredient of the real truth of anything until a reasonably considerable amount of time will pass in the future, nevertheless you can compare any similar phenomenon that occurred in the past. If it stood the test of time, so can your present topic at hand.

B. TRUTH RESONATES AND BREEDS HOLINESS.

Our Sages interpret the verse “Distance yourself from falseness” thusly; Falseness distances you from Hashem. You can feel or resonate with the Divine Truth in a situation, statement or idea… not only does it feel to be something that Hashem would approve of, but also you’ll find yourself being drawn to think, feel, speak and act out in a Holy way. Falseness produces the opposite results (the higher that you go in Kabbalah’s spiritual worlds or soul levels, the more Divinity and Truth will you experience).

C. TRUTH IS RECOGNIZED IN AN ATMOSPHERE OF DECEIT AS LIGHT IS IN DARKNESS.

Our Sages also teach that our world is a world of the hiddenness of G-d’s presence (the word “Olam” which means world comes from the Hebrew root for hidden). An even stronger expression offered is that this world is a “world of lies or deceptions” (Alma D’shikra). In a world of lies or deception, the truth, by contrast is very apparent and recognized. (Our sages’ phrase is Emet Nikeret – the Truth is recognized). This power of truth to be recognized in darkness is manifest in the trait of authenticity, where a person fearlessly shines forth the “real me” – even when it would be more comfortable to stay hidden behind their politically correct facade!! Integrity also is an attractive trait where people recognize in the person that they prefer to be courageously truthful rather than comfortably deceitful.

D. TRUTH IS ACCESSED BY SEEING THE WHOLE PICTURE.

The Kabbalists teach that truth is one of the traits of the sefira of Tiferet. Tiferet is the sefira that bridges or connects together all the rest of the sefirot of the personality – those above it (the spiritual and intellectual) with those below it (the actual), those to the right of it (the expansive and free-flowing traits) with those to the left of it (the constrictive and limiting traits). In other words, it takes into account the whole picture. Other similar areas that fall into this category are:

1. Torah – the truth that encompasses all elements

2. A judge – needs to rule based on all the factors

3. A Halachic “Poseik” (Authority) – needs to decide based on all the factors

4. Our forefather Jacob – the patriarch who embodied all sides of life, the spiritual with the physical bridged in all areas of life

5. My good friend’s constant advice in times of being confused about which direction to go was, “Go up to a higher level and see the whole picture – and then everything will fit into its proper place.”

E. KEEP PURSUING THE TRUTH UNTIL YOU GET IT.

“Pursue the Truth.” The Truth by its nature is something like Divinity itself that is hidden and makes itself increasingly available to a person according to their determination to get it!!

COPING WITH DECEPTION APPROACHES

1. MIRRORING THE DECEIVER

King David [in the 2nd ‘Book of Shmuel’ Ch. 22, verses 26-27] teaches this mirroring -principle stating, ‘ With a righteous person, be righteous…with a ‘tam’, be a ‘tam’…with a pure person, be pure…and with a crooked person, be crooked.’

Carry this approach out by simply mirroring ….Be very very careful not to fall into the trap of becoming a deceiver yourself…Hold onto your inner purity in all situations that you find yourself in

2. LIVING IN A HIGHER REALM

Here’s a simple tool that’s do-able and with a lot of persistence, can truly help you to see a world that’s unified and rectifiable, and allows you the ability to cope with some of the toughest people and challenges. You’ve possibly heard me at previous times bring this tool, but I bring it again because its application at this point is very appropriate. It’s called the ‘Mikve Tool’, and here’s what you do: Simply dunk yourself into a real or imagined body of water. While dunking, say to yourself, that all that’s recently happened to you is the best possible thing in the world for you. Then bring up into your mind a specific negative or painful experience that you have had recently. Come up for air and then dunk again and say to yourself that the reason why this experience is the best possible thing that could’ve happened to you, is because________ and wait for an answer to come in to your mind. The answer usually has something to do with the rectification of your personality or soul, such as a need to be more humble, loving, believing…etc…

3. BE A RADICAL ‘TAM’ IN THE FACE OF DECEPTION

****The point here, is that one’s ‘t-a-m ness’ will draw down a Divine-based-protective-force-field, and sometimes will even transform the deceiver into becoming a bit of a ‘tam’ also…Anyway here’s a few basic steps in ‘Tam-ing’;

A. Be radically authentic—–what you express on the outside, should be a reflection of what you feel on the inside…

B. Be radically happy with your lot.

C. Make ‘HOLY SIMPLICITY’ your primal value and ‘Modus operandi’ in life….this includes all areas of life; how you interact with people, with Hashem and with life itself…[Don’t forget what the Breslov Chassidim are fond of saying, ‘it’s not simple to be simple! And don’t forget what the Kabbalists are fond of saying ‘Simplicity is in the highest Sefirotic realm of ‘KETER’]….

4. LEVERAGING

A. Identify your strongest points. For example, you may be and feel outstanding in the realm of spirituality or learning or emoting or being creative or getting ‘results’…

B. Leverage or utilize this strong point[s] of yours when you are in the heat of an encounter with a deceptive person [rather than having to distance yourself from them]….

C. For example, if you’re a lover of wisdom, impress upon the deceptive one how fascinated you are by their depth and breadth of wisdom. Hopefully this will steer them away from feeling challenged by you and therefore needing to deceive you…

5. ESCAPE

Escape when you need to escape in order to protect yourself. Get a good lawyer if necessary. Included in this ‘escape clause’ is the ability to not allow the deceiver to trap you into an abusive type of relationship or dynamic that they themself created, in order to always keep you defensive and under their control….

meanwhile, until next time;

blessings

yitzchak

www.paradiseprinciple.com

ps—–I am in the midst of setting up

my summer schedule and am slowly

but surely filling up my free time with

1 on 1 phone and live

teaching/counseling/collaboration sessions,

so be in touch, in case you are interested

Dear friends,
I’m home B’H!
My trip was amazing and full of;

Aliveness and
Sparks and
Troubadoring and
Allness and
Cross-culturing and
Meditating to let in the Soul and
Connecting with new communities and
Investing in old friends and
Bonding with new friends and
Trying to be an adaptable, flexible traveler and
Trying to be worry-free and anxiety-free and
Discovering the ‘PARADOX PRINCIPLE’ and
Trying to convey nuclear bite sized teachings and
Much More………………………………………………………
And now I’m back, recovering and wondering where have I been and how that influences where am I going to, and one of the first specific explorations that this has led me to is—– the exploration of truth….after all , I tried in my many encounters with people on my trip, to somehow represent and convey a deeper truth to them….but now that I’m back home, and spending most all of my time alone, I’m no longer ‘on stage’, but rather, inside of the classroom of life, and therefore , as a full time learner, I’m moved to explore both what I already know [because unless we make an effort to know what we know, it most likely remains unknown to us ] as well as what I don’t yet know….so here is my latest exploration/presentation which I’ll call [first I’ll bring ‘what I know’—ie…TRUTH TEACHINGS that I have already brought in the past, and afterwards [this week or next] some new stuff-‘what I don’t yet Know’;

IN SEARCH OF TRUTH

TRUTH MEASURING APPROACHES
******Use these approaches as gauges to check the truth value of any principle, decision or piece of wisdom that you encounter.
A. TRUTH STANDS THE TEST OF TIME.
This verse in Proverbs states “The expression of truth stands forever.” Our Sages teach, “Falsehood has legs to stand on”, i.e. staying power. Does it stand up to the test of time? Though you can’t know this ingredient of the real truth of anything until a reasonably considerable amount of time will pass in the future, nevertheless you can compare any similar phenomenon that occurred in the past. If it stood the test of time, so can your present topic at hand.

B. TRUTH RESONATES AND BREEDS HOLINESS.
Our Sages interpret the verse “Distance yourself from falseness” thusly; Falseness distances you from Hashem. You can feel or resonate with the Divine Truth in a situation, statement or idea… not only does it feel to be something that Hashem would approve of, but also you’ll find yourself being drawn to think, feel, speak and act out in a Holy way. Falseness produces the opposite results (the higher that you go in Kabbalah’s spiritual worlds or soul levels, the more Divinity and Truth will you experience).

C. TRUTH IS RECOGNIZED IN AN ATMOSPHERE OF DECEIT AS LIGHT IS IN DARKNESS.
Our Sages also teach that our world is a world of the hiddenness of G-d’s presence (the word “Olam” which means world comes from the Hebrew root for hidden). An even stronger expression offered is that this world is a “world of lies or deceptions” (Alma D’shikra). In a world of lies or deception, the truth, by contrast is very apparent and recognized. (Our sages’ phrase is Emet Nikeret – the Truth is recognized). This power of truth to be recognized in darkness is manifest in the trait of authenticity, where a person fearlessly shines forth the “real me” – even when it would be more comfortable to stay hidden behind their politically correct facade!! Integrity also is an attractive trait where people recognize in the person that they prefer to be courageously truthful rather than comfortably deceitful.

D. TRUTH IS ACCESSED BY SEEING THE WHOLE PICTURE.
The Kabbalists teach that truth is one of the traits of the sefira of Tiferet. Tiferet is the sefira that bridges or connects together all the rest of the sefirot of the personality – those above it (the spiritual and intellectual) with those below it (the actual), those to the right of it (the expansive and free-flowing traits) with those to the left of it (the constrictive and limiting traits). In other words, it takes into account the whole picture. Other similar areas that fall into this category are: 1. Torah – the truth that encompasses all elements 2. A judge – needs to rule based on all the factors 3. A Halachic “Poseik” (Authority) – needs to decide based on all the factors 4. Our forefather Jacob – the patriarch who embodied all sides of life, the spiritual with the physical bridged in all areas of life 5. My good friend’s constant advice in times of being confused about which direction to go was, “Go up to a higher level and see the whole picture – and then everything will fit into its proper place.”

E. KEEP PURSUING THE TRUTH UNTIL YOU GET IT.
“Pursue the Truth.” The Truth by its nature is something like Divinity itself that is hidden and makes itself increasingly available to a person according to their determination to get it!!

COPING WITH DECEPTION APPROACHES

1. MIRRORING THE DECEIVER

King David [in the 2nd ‘Book of Shmuel’ Ch. 22, verses 26-27] teaches this mirroring -principle stating, ‘ With a righteous person, be righteous…with a ‘tam’, be a ‘tam’…with a pure person, be pure…and with a crooked person, be crooked.’

Carry this approach out by simply mirroring ….Be very very careful not to fall into the trap of becoming a deceiver yourself…Hold onto your inner purity in all situations that you find yourself in

2. LIVING IN A HIGHER REALM

Here’s a simple tool that’s do-able and with a lot of persistence, can truly help you to see a world that’s unified and rectifiable, and allows you the ability to cope with some of the toughest people and challenges. You’ve possibly heard me at previous times bring this tool, but I bring it again because its application at this point is very appropriate. It’s called the ‘Mikve Tool’, and here’s what you do: Simply dunk yourself into a real or imagined body of water. While dunking, say to yourself, that all that’s recently happened to you is the best possible thing in the world for you. Then bring up into your mind a specific negative or painful experience that you have had recently. Come up for air and then dunk again and say to yourself that the reason why this experience is the best possible thing that could’ve happened to you, is because________ and wait for an answer to come in to your mind. The answer usually has something to do with the rectification of your personality or soul, such as a need to be more humble, loving, believing…etc…

3. BE A RADICAL ‘TAM’ IN THE FACE OF DECEPTION

****The point here, is that one’s ‘t-a-m ness’ will draw down a Divine-based-protective-force-field, and sometimes will even transform the deceiver into becoming a bit of a ‘tam’ also…Anyway here’s a few basic steps in ‘Tam-ing’;

A. Be radically authentic—–what you express on the outside, should be a reflection of what you feel on the inside…

B. Be radically happy with your lot.

C. Make ‘HOLY SIMPLICITY’ your primal value and ‘Modus operandi’ in life….this includes all areas of life; how you interact with people, with Hashem and with life itself…[Don’t forget what the Breslov Chassidim are fond of saying, ‘it’s not simple to be simple! And don’t forget what the Kabbalists are fond of saying ‘Simplicity is in the highest Sefirotic realm of ‘KETER’]….

4. LEVERAGING

A. Identify your strongest points. For example, you may be and feel outstanding in the realm of spirituality or learning or emoting or being creative or getting ‘results’…

B. Leverage or utilize this strong point[s] of yours when you are in the heat of an encounter with a deceptive person [rather than having to distance yourself from them]….

C. For example, if you’re a lover of wisdom, impress upon the deceptive one how fascinated you are by their depth and breadth of wisdom. Hopefully this will steer them away from feeling challenged by you and therefore needing to deceive you…

5. ESCAPE

Escape when you need to escape in order to protect yourself. Get a good lawyer if necessary. Included in this ‘escape clause’ is the ability to not allow the deceiver to trap you into an abusive type of relationship or dynamic that they themself created, in order to always keep you defensive and under their control….

meanwhile, until next time;
blessings
yitzchak

ps—–I am in the midst of setting up
my summer schedule and am slowly
but surely filling up my free time with
1 on 1 phone and live
teaching/counseling/collaboration sessions,
so be in touch, in case you are interested

Continuation of Kabbalistic Healing Techniques

Continuation of Direct Divine Infusion Healing (Part 1)

) HELPLESS CRYING DVAIKUT (Clinging to Hashem)

While emoting as much a possible, both internally and externally (crying, screaming, jumping up and down, moaning, etc, go over in your mind, or orally, all of the events of one or more than one dilemma, crisis or any other type of difficulty that you are facing. Discuss all the efforts that you have invested to try to solve your problem. When you get to the point where you see that you have done all that you can do, and that it is beyond your ability to solve the problem, you’ve arrived at the helpless point.

Now is the time to reach your emotional crescendo and with a primal scream to Hashem, call out “I CANT DO IT – PLEASE DO IT FOR ME HASHEM”.

This exercise can be done very effectively and powerfully with an entire group.

Each person chooses their own private darkened corner of the room and begins to emote.

Then they all come together after a designated time to help each other process.

Part 2 –

TECHNIQUES FOR OPENING THE FLOW INTERNALLY THROUGH BALANCE, HARMONY AND ALIGNMENT

5. UNIFICATION HEALING

Here the basic principle is to offset or heal the weaker side or half of a pair with a meshing or fusion of the stronger corresponding half. Therefore focus on the weaker side of the pair (example: the left brain as opposed to the right brain, or fallen desires as opposed to rectified ones, or a fear as opposed to a corresponding strength, or a traumatic time in your life as opposed to a very self assured time).

Begin to draw down energetically the strength and power from the stronger one of the pair and enmesh the two together until the weaker side begins to feel stronger and reinforced.

If the situation involves two personalities, have the stronger of the two reassure their weaker partner.

In a group situation have all the members of the group draw upon their stronger side to heal the designated person’s weaker side.

6. TURKEY HEALING

A dysfunctional part of yourself will definitely inhibit a free flow.

Liberating the dysfunction, or “turkey”, reopens the channel for full physic flow.

The healing principle and the name “turkey”, comes from Rebbe Nachman’s story entitled “the Turkey Prince”.

A prince, thinking he was a turkey, sat cockling and pecking his food while he was totally naked underneath the table.

A wise sage eventually healed the turkey with the following steps:

a.Radical non-judgmental acceptance of the turkey just as he is (so much so, that the sage convinced this prince that he the sage, was a turkey just like him).

b.Take very slow, but deliberate “baby steps” towards bringing the “turkey” to a complete recovery.

On the ground, when turkey healing, one has to make a very great effort to lovingly embrace the person and their dysfunction (turkey) just as they are.

This is the key to the healing process.

To the extent that the person feels your unconditional acceptance, they will begin to heal.

CONTINUATION OF PART TWO –

7. SOUL BODY HEALING

This healing method is based on the idea that the body knows what the soul needs in order to heal.

Sometimes the body overcompensates, and becomes very protective; for example, a person with chronic fatigue will only be able to function minimally so that the person doesn’t get abused, hurt or otherwise harmed.

We would tell the body that we will strike a deal with you and if you release the person from their chronic fatigue, we will create a strategy whereby the person will be safe from harm. Therefore, do the following:

Choose any bodily ache, pain or illness.

Contemplate what this pain or illness is intent on protecting in your life.

Next, contemplate an alternative way to protect yourself other than the illness.

Speak to the bodily pain and convince it that you are taking over from here and you won’t need its services any more, but that you really appreciate its services that its done to help.

The body won’t always be so willing to listen, so you must be consistent and persuasive.

PART THREE –

TECHNIQUES FOR OPENING THE FLOW EXTERNALLY (SPARKS-ing)

8. RAV OOSHER’S PUPPET SHOW HEALING

Rav Oosher (Zatzal) over the years had countless people seeking his healing help.

Most of them were very miserable and depressed. They felt that they were victims of people’s manipulations and bad luck. Rav Oosher taught them to reframe their perspective and view life as a puppet show.

All of the bad fortune and abusive people in their lives are merely G-d’s puppets meant to direct them towards their rectification and enlightenment. The results of this reframed perspective were breathtakingly astounding.

Here’s what to do:

Identify a situation in your life where you feel that you are the victim of bad people and bad fortune.

Bring into your mind an awareness that every aspect of these people and this bad fortune is merely a display custom sent from on High in order to direct you towards the next level of your growth. Therefore don’t take personally what this person or circumstance is doing against you – they are only puppets.

This technique is a consciousness – be patient.

It takes a long time to reap the maximum benefit from it. Nevertheless, without a doubt, its got the power to transform your life.

9. SEFIROTIC LIFE BODY HEALING

The idea here is that there is a direct correlation between the events of our lives and our Sefirotic health.

If one Sefira is out of wack, then that area of life will also be out of wack; for example:

If a person has chronic pain in their left leg, that points to some disfunctionality in the HOD area of their life. HOD corresponds to the left leg. HOD is the Sefirotic character trait that corresponds to our capacity to enable others to do their best. If this enabling process is too strong or too weak, or is being abused by others, then there is a good chance that this person will suffer in a part of the body that corresponds to HOD, such as the left leg.

Here’s what to do:

Focus on a part of your body which is giving you trouble.

Identify the body part’s Sefirotic correspondence. (I understand that many people don’t have this knowledge. In case you are interested, please consult me regarding the Sefirot correspondence to your effected body part.)

Now identify the corresponding Sefirotic aspect of your life.

Adjust this Sefirotic aspect of your life to be aligned and in balance with all the other Sefirotic aspects of your life.

10. GILGUL (REINCARNATION) HEALING

The principle here is as follows:

A very large part of who we are, who we associate with, the challenges which we go through, our stations in life, etc etc, are a direct result of a trans-life perfection process. What we didn’t get right in previous lifetimes is what we will be challenged with in this life.

The way to identify reincarnation based aspects of our life, is to take inventory of the unique people and situations that we find ourselves in. Then view these people and situations as being the direct result of what we have come into this life to rectify.

The healing process happens when we take action in the proper way in response to these challenges which are thrown at us.

Here’s what to do:

Identify a unique challenge that you find yourself in life.

View this challenge as being the result of a similar challenge that we didn’t quite get right in a previous life time.

Ask Hashem to enlighten you as to what you are meant to do in order to get it right this time. (This dialogue with Hashem can also be enacted in a written manner.

Write to Hashem your question, and write what you think He will answer back to you.)

Carry on in this way with all the different people and challenges in your life.

TIME IN THE POST LIFE Time in the post-life is experienced on the one hand, in a whole different way than we experience time presently inside of our bodies…..On the other hand, the major focus of the post-life is on the time that we spent here in this life…..

TIME IS TIKUN Kabbalah teaches that time is Tikun….The word time in Hebrew is Z’man, whose numerical value is 97—the same numerical value of the combination of the 2 Divine Names [MAH and BEN], that represent the rectifying and that which needs rectifying aspects of reality respectively….Time is not measured in terms of getting from one point on a temporal line to the next , rather of getting from a lesser state of perfection or Tikun to a greater state….

TIME IS AN OPEN SYSTEM [ beyond birth and death] The Time=Tikun outlook radically changes the way we relate to time…..Birth and death are transitional states bridging what comes before the beginning or birth point to what comes after it ,as well as what comes before and after death….It’s an open system, not a closed system of entropy where everything comes to an end and dies eventually—-Rather, everything moves toward perfection and to a state that is beyond time….

TIME IS A COLLECTION OF OPPORTUNITIES COPED WITH SUCCESSFULLY [SPARKS] The measure of Time in life, is the number of Sparks we collect—ie…the opportunities that we succeeded at— in order to complete that which is lacking in ourselves….The Post-Life is a replay ad-infinitum of these opportunities that we took advantage of….

TIME LIMITATIONS LIBERATED We liberate and transcend time limitations [and thereby nullify it altogether] by elevating and transforming the realm of the temporal to becoming Infinite and Eternal…..We rectify 50

the Primordial Sin of Adam–which plunged humanity into an almost irreversible death cycle, by living a consciousness reality where every experience is infintized as much as possible…We also do this rectification by identifying and tapping in to the Divine Eternity factor involved in every action, feeling, word and thought that we elicit…In these and other ways, death and finitude fall away—No more time, no more death–We return to the Garden of Eden….

TIME LESSONS INTERNALIZED Let us do some meditations of the main points that we’ve discussed so far, and thereby try to experience and internalize these points, and B”H , begin to transform the way that we relate to time—from being something that is time-bound and lacking to being something that is beyond time and perfect….

TIME MEDITATIONS

1. Time in the Post Life

In your mind’s eye, allow yourself to travel forward in time–beyond your present life–to your post-life….Experience how differently everything feels when you in your essential state of being are no longer in your body….specifically focus on how you are no longer bound to time….Simply by exercising your will power, you are able to travel instantly from the earliest experiences to your latest ones…Your whole life is an ‘open book’—-simply focus on any specific part of your life–and you are there…Now take a few moments to ‘tour’ different times in your life—-see what you can see—pay attention to how you resonate with each place that you visit and how far along is each place in terms of it’s level of perfection….

2.TIME IS TIKUN Recall a specific episode or process in your life–a process that began in a very un-rectified way—a cluttered, chaotic, painful unclear way….Notice how slowly but surely [or perhaps in your case–quickly and suddenly], the rough edges became smoothed out—the clutter and chaos were replaced by order—the pain was replaced by pleasure and the unclarity by clarity….Be aware that this progression towards rectification is something that happens in many processes in your life–with the passage of time involved in each process….Now project into your future, a life process that is either in the beginning stages or soon to begin….Foresee that whether or not the process begins with difficulties, with Hashem’s constant guidance–and your adherence to this guidance—all is smoothed out with the passage of time—and you see how all will turn out in the best possible way, exactly as it should….

3. TIME IS AN OPEN SYSTEM [beyond birth and death] Go back in time to your birth…You don’t need [and most likely won’t be able] to remember anything at all of what really happened….Just allow yourself to imagine what it was like…..Feel how it feels to be a newborn….Feel the newness and the amazingness of it all…Feel as much as you are able….Now watch your life progress from the infant stage–over time–all the way to the present….Now go back to the time when your Soul was in the World of Souls—you hear in great detail how all of the major events of your life are lessons —-in order to teach you what you need to learn in order to move forward as much as you can towards your perfection process…Take a few minutes for this as well……Now move to the time just beyond your death—the time of your ‘life-review’–where all that you have done is sized up for its level of perfection—-take note of what is rectified and what is still lacking and in need of further rectification—perhaps to be played out in a subsequent lifetime, perhaps in some other post-life rectification reality….Here too, take a few minutes to experience as much as you can in order to truly feel that the time span that makes up our life, expands beyond birth and beyond death….

4. TIME IS A COLLECTION OF OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES SUCCESFULLY COPED WITH [SPARKS] Contemplate deeply the countless opportunities that you are presented with at all times—opportunities to complete yourself–complete that which is lacking….Start now and work your way backwards, and notice every single Soul–completing opportunity or Holy Spark that comes your way….Notice how well you reacted….How well does your chosen plan or feeling or thought or communication help to complete yourself….Now notice how these Sparks, large and small, when successfully taken care of–are the true measure of the passing of time —the true landmarks that we will be remembered by when we pass on from this world…Project from this moment onwards, that all opportunities that come your way from within or from without are customized and personalized especially for you, in order for you to become completed….Now take a few minutes to pray that Hashem will help you meet all these challenges as best as is possible….

5. LIBERATING TIME LIMITATIONS Open up your ability to transcend and liberate time limitations as best as you can…Here are a few ways to do it; A. Extend time—————When you say a word or see a sight or feel a feeling etc.., focus totally all of your attention and go much slower than you would normally go…..Take 7 seconds for each experience instead of 1 or 2….Try a few extensions now…. B. Eternalizing Holy acts————Experience saying a Holy word, doing a Holy act or Mitzvah, thinking a Hoy thought of connecting with Hashem or intending a Holy intention of being benevolent to others…..Now focus on experiencing these Holy acts with the knowledge that each act has eternal reverberations….Every single Holy act will be repeated and relived in deeper and deeper profundity for the rest of time….Take a few minutes to experience how different and powerful the doing of these acts becomes…. C. Presence-ing—————–Experience the present moment that you find yourself in…Experience all that you feel and think and see…etc…Realize that this moment never has existed before in the unique way you are experiencing it and it will never be repeated–it is absolutely and utterly unique….Be here now—totally….Don’t miss a drop—past tensions do not exist, nor do future worries….take some time to experience this…..

Greetings from the good old USA….I don’t want to miss sending you something of substance this week [in the context of our new ‘Masters Project’], so please accept this revised version of ‘Shabbat Meditations’, which fits in to the following Masters Project category;

MASTER OF PARADISED JEWISH OBSERVANCE WISDOM

I hope that these Shabbat Meditations help to open doors of true Shabbat Consciousness;

SHABBAT MEDITATIONS

What follows is a number of Shabbat meditations and a short summary of the Torah principles which they are based on.

All of these meditations are drawn from a series of Shabbat essays taught by the previous Slonimer Rebbe (Zatzal) in the second volume of his work Netivot Shalom. The common thread running through all of his essays (and I have only chosen a select few) is consciousness … the unique sublime Garden of Eden consciousness that we all can get a taste of in this world with a concerted effort…… and thereby sensitize ourselves to a life of true paradise in this world and in the next one.

I hope that by practicing these meditations we can open up more and more of this sensitivity.

1. ASCENT MEDITATION

(An introductory meditation or mind state which is the root of all the other meditations and mind states). The Kabbalah teaches that starting on Friday afternoon and culminating towards the end of Shabbat, there occurs “Aliyat Olamot” – “Ascent of the Worlds”. The imagery presented to us is that of one world rising or elevating against a backdrop of its present placement up to a realm which is above any type of negativity whatsoever. Practically speaking, this can be experienced as an ever deepening state of awareness of one’s soul and the removal, layer after layer of all that which separates it from the Master of the Universe.

********Focus on your present state of being, physically, emotionally, spiritually etc. See yourself now entering into a sort of cosmic elevator which climbs incrementally from one floor of a tall building to the next higher one to the next etc etc until it reaches the top.

Every time that elevator climbs up a few floors, focus again on the various aspects of your state of being, and allow yourself to experience a pure and holy state of being, stripped of all pretence and falseness and negativity ….focus on how this consciousness saturates you through and through and allows you to experience your inner Divine self.

Allow more and more of this pure holy positive Divine energy to saturate you more and more as the elevator climbs.

2. THE RETROACTIVE FUSION MEDITATION

When one is privileged to experience a higher state of being, they feel as if all that they do and accomplish, is not really them at all, but rather Hashem doing it through them. This is not only true of their present state of being, but is also true with regard to what they can recall of their past accomplishments.

********Focus on a list of the highlights of your previous weeks – either based on a written one, or a stream of thought recollection that you do in your mind right now.

First see every detail and feeling of your week’s highlights or main accomplishments as being that of your own doing.

Then reframe every aspect of every accomplishment as being infused, enabled and empowered by The Master of the Universe.

3. THE EVERYTHING IS PERFECT MEDITATION

Shabbat is a mindset that is patterned after a future era when there will be nothing lacking, not in people nor in anything else. All will be experienced as being whole and perfect just as it is, and there will be no need to rectify anything or anyone else including ourselves.

*******Focus on seeing everyone in your life in their perfected state; First scan the people you know (start with one or two and expand your list), and foresee or project what they will be like when they eventually reach their state of perfection.

Then project how differently you will relate to them when you are seeing them in this state.

Next see even their areas of lack as being stepping stones towards their perfection.

Finally, in real life, relate to these people as if you already see them in their perfected state.

Do the same entire process for yourself.

4. THE PLEASURE (Oneg) MEDITATION

Rebbe Shlomo of Karlin Ob’m taught what was overheard, being declared in the heavenly realms, an extremely important lesson; ‘‘Even if a person is very careful to observe all of the positive and negative commandments of Shabbat in all of their fine detail (and to properly observe these Mitzvot in all of their fine detail is of utmost importance, of utmost severity and requires a huge investment of energy), but nevertheless do not make a concerted effort in this life to feel or to experience at all the sweetness and pleasure of the Shabbat, so too, when they get upstairs in their post life eternal environment, they will not experience this pleasure and will rather be like an unfeeling bench!’’ This is because the atmosphere of the spiritual strata is filled with only pleasure and happiness, and if one doesn’t condition oneself to this atmosphere now, how will they be sensitized to it in the future?!

********Focus on taking pleasure on:

THE PAST: All the accomplishments that Hashem allowed you to accomplish last week.

THE PRESENT: All the physical delights of the day – eating, sleeping breathing and other bodily pleasures as well as spiritual pleasures.

THE FUTURE: Ask that Hashem should surprise and delight you for the remainder of the day.

5. THE REBIRTH MEDITATION

When we are plugged in to the true energy of Shabbat, i.e., being so much in Devakut in a fused clinging state with Hashem that we know that anything we do or want that is against Hashem’s will is not really our will, but something external to ourselves, then Shabbat provides us with a similar effect as that of Yom Kippur – a cleansing, purifying atoning, rebirth effect.

********Plug in to how Shabbat allows me to connect with my true Ratzon (primal will)…. and see that it is truly an extension of G-d’s Will, and all that I do, or have done in the past that is not on this pure Divine fused soul level, is not the real me, but something external to me.

Now focus on how this mindset infuses me with a spiritual purity and cleansing that ultimately enables me to feel like I am being reborn.

6. THE EXTRA SOUL MEDITATION

We receive a gift on Shabbat —a gift referred to as an Extra Soul [Neshama Yetyairah]……the Verse says that upon completion of the initial Creation process Hashem rested—the word describing this Divine Rest, is ‘VAYINAFASH’—-this represents a state of mind , where one’s Soul takes center stage—where one is primally motivated on Soul matters, such as one’s Eternal Divine purpose , life force, mission and pleasure…..the Kabbalists inform us that there are actually real Souls from the Garden of Eden that come into us and fill us up with their presence for the duration of the Shabbat

*********At the beginning of Shabbat and through out the night and day, be present to the inner elevated feeling that you experience-your ‘Neshama Yetairah’—-notice how the way that you relate to others to yourself , to G-d and to life in general is elevated….Cultivate this experience—notice how one Shabbat’s ‘Extra soul’ feeling is different than another Shabbat….notice how this Extra soul goes through a growth process on Shabbat itself, and how this experience relates very much to your previous week, and how, by being present with this experience, you can actually draw it into your upcoming

7. THE RAAVA D’RAAVIM [WILL OF WILLS] MEDITATION

Before departing Shabbat, we reach the culmination point—the highest ascent of consciousness….This state of being comes at the time when the sun is going down and the light of day grows dim and there is an internal knowledge that the power of the day will soon be taken away from us—and we will be called upon to jump into the cloudiness and darkness of the weekday world, where we must constantly cope with trials and tribulations to the best of our creative abilities……..so our hearts open up with the deepest of yearnings —a yearning to be able to stay here alone in the Presence of the Lord, and at the same time, a yearning to be able to draw upon all of the insights and heart-openings that we experience right now—into the coming week

*********As the Holy Shabbat day draws to a close, allow yourself to feel a deep yearning welling up inside of you—a yearning to return to the Divine womb….a yearning to constantly be inside of Shabbat…. A yearning to cling to Hashem constantly with every thread of your being…. A yearning to be able to draw from all the highest times [such as this present moment], into the low times [such as the weekday-relative to Shabbat]—to draw down all of the feelings and insights and love and awakeness.